


The End Of The Line

by Lady_Darkness



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Author will regret this, Betrayal, First Kiss, Hannibal Loves Will, It hurts like hell, Last Kiss, M/M, They get caught, Will Loves Hannibal, it’s really sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 09:27:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13544484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Darkness/pseuds/Lady_Darkness
Summary: Two years after TWOTL the FBI catches up with Will and Hannibal. They are hidden away in a motel room in Wyoming when Jack arrives.





	The End Of The Line

**Author's Note:**

> I sort of regret this, but listening to sad country music never amounts to anything remotely good.  
> The song that inspired this was Seven Spanish Angels by Willie Nelson and Ray Charles. This bit me and it wouldn’t let go.

The End Of The Line

It had been two years since the fall, almost to the day, when Will and Hannibal found themselves cornered in a small motel room somewhere in Wyoming. Why Hannibal wanted to come back to the US, Will didn’t know, but he knew they were sitting ducks, just waiting for Jack and his crew to invade their room.  
The room was small and sparsely decorated, with two queen beds and ridiculous bedspreads. Upon their arrival Will had made fun of Hannibal and his taste in interior decoration, but the older man had only grunted as he unpacked his bag and chose one of the two beds. He really didn’t understand why they had to come back here when the risk of getting caught was still too great. No matter how careful they had been to hide their continued existence over the last two years, Jack and the FBI hadn’t given up the hunt. 

The authorities had been made aware of their presence by a local shopkeeper, who had recognized Will and his facial scar on one of their scarce shopping trips. The next day Will had spotted the tail when he went out for a short walk.

“Hannibal, we’ve been made,” he said as soon as he entered the room “they know we’re here.” Panic resounded in his voice, but he managed to keep his wits about him. He’d been afraid of this the moment they’d entered the US at the Canadian border. They’d lived quietly in Canada for a year, without anyone noticing them. Their house had been a small cabin in the middle of nowhere, with no neighbours for miles around. Will had been happy there. With Hannibal next to him, he had finally found the peace he’d been looking for all his life. They’d had two beautiful years together, even though they had been on the run for the greater part of it.

Right after their cliff dive, Chiyoh had taken care of them until Will had been healed enough to look after both of them. She had left them in a house in New Zealand, fully expecting them to just disappear. They’d stayed there for six months while working out their differences and then they moved on to Japan and they had even stayed a few months in Russia. In the end, both Will and Hannibal had decided Canada would be perfect to hide out and to stay off the grid, so Hannibal had bought a house for them to live together. After a year he’d grown restless and often spoke of returning to the US. Will hadn’t understood, and he still didn’t, but he had noticed he no longer wanted to live separately, away from Hannibal, so he too went back. 

Now it all seemed to be coming to an end. Will looked at Hannibal, who didn’t seem too concerned. He looked equally at peace and haunted. He lay back on the bed, in a pose that was slightly uncharacteristic for him, his slightly longer and grayer hair fanned out on the pillow. He looked back at Will with a predatory look in his eyes. 

“What do you propose, Will? Do we run, will you give me up? They don’t know about you. You are still presumed innocent. Your name hasn’t come up on Tattlecrime until now, they don’t know about you. I guess Jack would be more than willing to look upon Francis’ death as self defence. You could return to your wife,” he spat the words “or you can stay with me.”

Will couldn’t believe what he was hearing, after all this time. So that was what it had all come down to. Hannibal wanted him to choose between him and Molly, and as usual, he had taken the most theatrical way to obtain his goals. Will felt anger rise in his chest. His jaw clenched as he looked at Hannibal, he was beyond angry. The anger he’d felt when learning Hannibal had been responsible for the attack on Molly didn’t even come close to the blind rage he was feeling right now. How did he dare to endanger them this way again? He went to stand in front of Hannibal, his chest puffed out and his voice unsteady, emotion pouring out of him.

“I knew you were jealous of Molly, but I didn’t know you would lead us to the edge of a cliff again. What the hell, Hannibal? When I went with you two years ago, I burned every bridge behind me. Never did I think of going back. I threw away my wedding ring before I was healed, what else did you want? All you had to do was talk to me! My place is here, with you, you idiot. For all of your intelligence, you did something pretty stupid here.” His breath hitched, they were trapped now. Will’s breathing sped up, his head was getting lighter as he neared the bed where Hannibal still lay. He sat down gently, leaning towards his one and only friend. He placed both of his hands on Hannibal’s cheeks.

“I chose you, it has always been you since the day you gutted me in your kitchen. You have been in my mind, festering and tainting everything there was, but I wanted it,” he breathed harshly “God, how I wanted it… I craved you for all of the years you were away. By saying I never wanted to think of you again I condemned myself to thinking of you every fucking day.” He saw Hannibal flinch at the cuss word, but he didn’t care, not now. They were dead anyway. In one fluid movement he was on top of the other man, claiming his lips in a harsh and violent kiss. Hannibal’s hands snaked up behind him, grabbing a fistful of curls. He licked his way into Will’s mouth as if he were trying to crawl into him. The kiss went on for a while before they had to break apart, panting and leaning their foreheads together.

“I guess this is it, Hannibal. Unless you have a way out.” Will panted, caressing Hannibal’s cheek. He felt the soft beard under his hands. For almost the whole of last year he had wondered how it would feel to touch and taste that soft skin under his chin, leading up to his chest. He’d seen Hannibal naked countless times in the two years they had shared accomodation, but he had never mustered up the courage to actually approach him. Bedelia had assured him the love Hannibal felt was real and overwhelming, but Will had been scared. He had remained scared until now, and now it was too late. 

The doctor looked at Will with something close to regret in his expression. Why hadn’t he tried to communicate his feelings earlier? They would have had a chance to know each other in the physical sense as well. He bowed his head and lowered his eyes. This was probably the first time since his childhood he had sensed this emotion, this shame. He had robbed himself of a happier life by his own incapacity of keeping his emotions in check when he felt jealous and robbed. His shoulders hunched and his face ashen, he reached for Will again. He hugged him tight, like he had done back in his kitchen in Baltimore after gutting him in the all encompassing pain of discovering Will’s betrayal. This time it was he who had betrayed both Will and himself. He knew this would be the end, for both of them. There was no way out this time, he had no last-minute escape plan in place. His face fell as he looked at Will’s stricken expression. 

“We go out together.” Hannibal whispered “I would change what I have done to bring us here, but I cannot, so for that I am truly sorry, Will.” 

Will swallowed the tears that threatened to form. Here was the man who had once said to him apologies were only for the weak, and now he was apologizing for bringing their flight and probably their lives to a premature end. 

“They will not get me alive, not this time.” Hannibal stated. He had no intention of going back to the BSHCI to have his head examined again. And now he had known the bliss of having Will in his life and by his side, he preferred to die right here and now. There was no future for them. If they got caught, they would surely be separated for the rest of their natural lives, which was a future neither Hannibal nor Will were willing to entertain.

Will decided not to let rage and reproach soil their last moments in relative peace and pulled the other man close, letting the feelings he had developed dor Hannibal overwhelm him. He buried his face in Hannibal’s neck, smelling the acrid sweat and, underneath that, a sweetness that was unique to the man. Even if his sense of smell had never been as strong as Hannibal’s, he had learned to recognize it as home and safe. They hadn’t touched a lot, but Will had held him through his seizures as he was detoxing from the drugs they had him on at the BSHCI, and he hadn’t said anything if Hannibal touched him like he used to. He hadn’t exactly reciprocated, but he had never pushed the older man away, he had never refused him the comfort of his touch.

“We’ll take them down with us,” he whispered “a fitting end to the Chesapeake Ripper.”

They disentangled themselves from their embrace and took the weapons bag out of the closet. In it were three simple handguns, purchased on arrival in the US. Will loaded two of them and shoved the third one in Hannibal’s hands. 

“We will go down together this time.” he breathed before capturing Hannibal’s lips in a soft kiss. He snuck his hands behind his back and pulled him in a fierce hug, knowing it would be their last. There was no way out anymore. Shortly after he had spotted the first vehicle, Will had seen and heard the others arrive. A sea of blue and white had gathered in front of the shitty motel they were staying in. It was only a matter of minutes before they either broke down the door or ordered them to come out with their hands in the air. No way in hell that was going to happen.

“Hannibal Lecter! Will Graham! Come out with your hands in the air!” 

Jack Crawford’s voice sounded out through the speaker. He was clearly nervous and excited to finally be able to catch them after chasing after them for two years. He’d understood quite early that Will had voluntarily disappeared with the doctor, and that he had not been coerced in any way. That knowledge had made Jack even more steadfast in his conviction to find and kill the both of them, and when the bodies had started dropping first in New Zealand and then in Russia, he’d made it his life goal to bring those two to justice. He had accepted Will’s death at first, and told Molly how sorry he was, but when the discovered crime scenes showed evidence of two killers, he’d known immediately what had happened to Will. And now he finally had them cornered. This time he wasn’t letting up. This ended either with those two in chains or dead, nothing in between. He was not letting go of the devil a second time. He signaled the captain of the SWAT team to get ready to break down the door after throwing the grenade inside. 

The breaking of the window effectively ended Will and Hannibal’s embrace. They both jumped aside and dove to the floor. Splinters of glass scattered around the room while the grenade rolled forward before releasing its smoke. Will coughed as he put his handkerchief in front of his nose and mouth to keep out the stinging smoke. He tried to look up to find Hannibal, but he couldn’t see anything. He could hear the other man’s hacking cough and moved closer to where the sound came from. He was now effectively blinded by the smoke. Grabbing his gun tight, he moved through the room with the practiced ease of an ex-agent. Hannibal was on the floor, hit by the pieces of the window he’d been in front of. A large part of glass was stuck in his throat and his right hand was obviously broken and covered in blood. Will knew that removing the shard would kill him, make him bleed out. His heart stung at the realization, but he knew that was what he wanted to do, what Hannibal needed him to do. He looked down into those rapidly dulling amber eyes and saw his own thoughts reflected in them.  
“Hannibal,” he said with tears in his voice and pointing at the glass in his partner’s throat “I love you, but if you don’t want to get caught, I have to do this.” 

Hannibal’s breaths came fast and shallow as Will bent over him. He lifted his uninjured hand to Will’s cheek and caressed it softly. Will leaned into the touch, letting his tears fall freely. His heart broke seeing Hannibal lying down on the floor, helpless and waiting to be caught. The proud man he had know for years was gone now, he had died when the grenade had been thrown inside. Will wiped his eyes to take a last good look at Hannibal. He brought his hand to the piece of glass and grabbed it firmly.

“Pull it out swiftly, cut the carotid,” Hannibal said “I will bleed out and die in a short time. They will not be able to save me.” 

Will pressed his lips to Hannibal’s for the last time, kissing him softly. Then he pulled out the shard of glass, making sure he cut the neck artery too. A spray of blood landed on him, just like it had when they had slain the dragon together. Hannibal’s body sagged backwards, Will guided his head tenderly to the ground, not caring one bit about the blood that was covering them both.

The sounds from outside started to come through his haze of pain and sadness when he realized he still was in grave danger. He took the gun from Hannibal’s hand and ran to the now broken window. He aimed it at the police vehicles stationed in front of the building. His eyes teared so bad he couldn’t hit one of them, but he didn’t care. What he wanted was to lie down and die next to Hannibal. Part of him wanted to go out fighting, he had never taken the easy road before and he wasn’t about to start now. He gritted his teeth as he took the second gun and emptied the clip at the approaching policemen. A bullet then hit him in the right shoulder, one of the cops hadn’t missed. A bitter chuckle escaped from his throat, it was the same shoulder Jack had shot him so many years earlier, when he had first discovered the true identity of the Chesapeake Ripper. Pain shot through him when he tried to move again, but he persisted and kept making his way outside, shooting at everyone coming his way.

He didn’t feel the pain as the bullets tore through his already bloody body. Most of the blood on him was Hannibal’s, but he didn’t care anymore. He gave a thought to their conjoined blood on his shirt and soaking through to his skin. He wanted this to be over, to be reunited in death with the only one he ever truly loved, the one man who understood and accepted him on every level. When he emptied his clip, he reached for the last gun in his back pocket. Holding it in his left hand, he brought up his arm to aim and shoot, but his strength gave out before he could fire again. He dropped the gun, sank to his knees and fell on his back. The FBI agents moved in, cautiously coming closer, intent on capturing him alive. Having no intention of staying alive without Hannibal, Will brought his hand to his pocket, as if going for another gun. He knew this movement would draw their fire, as they had already lost at least two agents in this raid. The FBI agent closest by saw it happen and aimed his weapon at the criminal on the ground. Will closed his eyes as heard the shot ring out, but he didn’t feel the bullet that actually ended his life. 

The End

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wanted to leave Will’s fate unclear, but I found that I can’t separate them. In my mind they live on and rule as kings of Hell. Together, always❤️


End file.
